In May this year, India and Bangladesh agreed to launch a direct passenger train service between Dhaka and Kolkata, after a gap of 42 years - train services had been suspended since the 1965 war between India and Pakistan. In a trial run on the proposed Dhaka-Kolkata train, Bangladeshi officials arrived in Kolkata on 29 July onboard the inter-country Moitree Express (Friendship Express). Earlier, on 10 July, the first train from the West Bengal capital reached Dhaka on a trial-run carrying a 14-member Indian delegation. Freight train services between India and Bangladesh was resumed in 2001 when the Indian Railways Minister, Mamata Banerjee, flagged off the first train from Petrapole in West Bengal, bound for Benapole in Bangladesh.

The two countries have decided that one train each from Dhaka and Kolkata would ply up-down between the two cities in a total of four trips in the initial days and the frequency would be increased with further development of infrastructures. While Bangladesh, as per the accord, would accomplish the customs and other formalities at the originating Dhaka Cantonment Station, India would do it at the border of the two countries. Train services are expected to be resumed from September 2007. The resumption of train services have been delayed after New Delhi raised concerns over lack of security and poor infrastructure, as well as inadequate immigration and customs arrangements for the cross-border service.

Historically, the Trade Review talks between India and Bangladesh held in September 1998 at Dhaka agreed to reopen the old Bongaon (India) and Jessore (Bangladesh) broad gauge railway line which had been closed since 1965. That was a welcome step towards fostering closer communication linkages between the two countries which would facilitate movement of goods and people. Three trains ran between the two countries carrying goods and passengers:

• East Bengal Express between Sealdah and Goalando Ghat via Gede;

• East Bengal Mail between Sealdah and Parbatipur via Gede; and

• Barisal Express between Sealdah and Khulna via Petrapole.

Once cancelled, these trains were not restored even after the change in the political scenario with the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.

No doubt, the discontinuation of rail links increased the hardships of passengers travelling between the two countries. On 28 March 1972, India and Bangladesh signed a trade agreement: Article V of the Agreement provided for "mutually beneficial arrangements for the use of their waterways, railways and roadways for commerce between the two countries and for passage of goods between two places in one country through the territory of the other."

According to Eastern Railway sources, the weekly train, expected to cover 345 km between Kolkata and Dhaka, will have six coaches, including one air-conditioned chair car and a pantry. The journey will take about 12 hours and the fare will range between Rs.300 and Rs.800. An estimated 600,000 Bangladeshis come to India each year, while, in comparison only 80,000-90,000 Indians go to Bangladesh. With the resumption of train services, the number of Indians travelling to Bangladesh is expected to rise.

Certainly, the train service will open a new chapter in India-Bangladesh relations, as people from both countries will benefit culturally and it will strengthen their bonds. Apart from people to people exchanges, the train services between the two countries can benefit thousands of Bangladeshis seeking medical treatment in India.

Friendly relations between India and Bangladesh have recently been marred by border skirmishes, especially after India began fencing off parts of the 4,100-km border in 2002 to stop illegal migrants and suspected militants. There have been reports of infiltration of Bangladeshis, despite erection of fencing In addition, the remote hilly areas of Dhalai district, where barbed wire fencing is yet to be erected, militants have been taking advantage of the long porous border. India recently proposed the erection of box-type fencing along the 150 metre route in the international border and immigration point.

Given that the line, station and staff are there and freight trains run on the route, running passenger trains would only require governments to ensure proper facilities for immigration and customs. A question that may arise is whether there would be enough passengers from the Indian side though it is certain that Bangladeshis will come in increasingly larger numbers.

With the infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals into Indian territory a cause for concern, there would be an element of danger that more and more such groups would arrive in the country. Despite a "change in attitude" of the present interim government in Bangladesh, militants are still using that country for anti-India activities. Moreover, ISI is still "active" in Bangladesh and "aiding" the insurgents of North Eastern states. According to reports, many of the insurgents of Tripura were taken to Pakistan for training via Bangladesh. However, much depends on a new democratic government that would take office in Dhaka and whether Bangladesh is really serious about checking illegal exodus of its nationals as well as containing anti-Indian elements.